Do you know what a VA is?

No, it’s normal, we are in France after all.

While the phenomenon is already widespread in the United States and Great Britain, to find a Virtual Assistant (“VA”) is still a challenge in France.

A VA is a real project manager who is able to handle added-value missions (administrative, management schedules, blog posts, CM…) and who will quickly gain experience on your business.

What is the main benefit ? 

Two words: core business! The VA will allow you to re-focus on it. And as a service offer, you don’t pay any welfare costs. Last but not least, she will be operational immediately.

This young startup offers to help you with valuable VAs. It is not about you buying “tasks” from a service center ; as the CEO Tania specifies “We’re not running a business based on the industrialization of human beings”. The start-up has much more to offer. Smartelia is about quality, long term relationships between clients and assistants.

Entrepreneurship in Madagascar

But Smartelia is not only about business. A few months ago, back in April 2012, people with the same interests gathered around the project to support entrepreneurship in Madagascar. The co-founders Cédric Donck and Pierre Alexandre Losson, fell for Harittina Randriamanantena, a young Malagasy female entrepreneur.

They were seduced by her entrepreneurial passion and ability to make things happen. Then, a few months later, they met Tiana who shared the same wishes and decided to join the team as the CEO.

“This is the story of a meeting, a favorite and strong personalities keen to develop entrepreneurship among young people in developing countries, including Madagascar. Madagascar, because the three of us have a story with this beautiful country, culturally and humanly appealing“. That is why the recruitment of assistants only takes place in there.”

And so, concretely, what is the VA taking care of ? 

Two members from the same start-up at Le Camping, as an example, can share a wonderful VA.

She will be selected and recruited after a series of tests, to be sure that she will fit perfectly with the client’s business needs.

She will take care of both founders’ agendas: organization and confirmation of appointments, travel bookings… She can also handle the emails administration, classification of emails and respond on behalf of the CEO. Each Assistants can be responsible for their client on a full time basis, but it is also possible to handle two partners as long as they come from the same structure. The golden rule is that an assistant will never manage more than two clients, in order to meet the service quality and performance standards. She attends to the success of his daily life and as a matter of fact, its entire business.

A concrete case for a start-up ? 

Blue2purple, one of their customer relates : “Soon, Diane, our VA became a member of the team itself. Appreciated and recognized for her effectiveness, she integrated the projects quickly. If the intervention was initially monitored by management, soon the whole team wanted to be able to “meet” her to put a face and a name on two initials!” and he adds “And when a joke is shared during a chat, it is just as viral from an office to an other than beyond the oceans!“

And now ? Smartelia has a fast growing clientele and is now recruiting 15 people, all university graduates graduated with masters. The Start-up focuses its business on B to B, and has international projects in the pipes.

–> Check the Smartelia Facebook page !